I’m not sure whether to post this in GQ or Café Society, so I’ll start here and see if it sprouts legs. I’d like to start experimenting with saffron in my cooking. So I went to the local Indian store and bought a 5 gram box of saffron for $10. Then I went to the owner of the Persian restaurant down the street and asked him how to use it. He told me to make an infusion with water and spray it on everything. He showed me his spray bottle—it was a big 1 quart bottle that was filled with a dark red liquid. I’m guessing that it wouldn’t be a very good idea to make this much at home—even if I refrigerated it, it would get moldy before I could use it all. What would be a good amount for me to make to keep in the fridge, and how should I make it? Let’s say I make one cup. How much saffron should I use for this amount? And how long should I steep it for?
Wow, I have never made an infusion with saffron. I usually just use a thread or two to flavor basmati rice. I will watch with interest!
Six to ten stigmas to 1/2 cup, 4 fl.oz. water. (time, temp. like tea?)
Saffron Infusion
Caution larges doses are narcotic!
Thanks for finding that, but I think that is something different. That type of infusion is intended for a medicinal tonic, not for cooking. I can’t seem to find any information on this anywhere on the Internet. I’ve gone to dozens of cooking pages, but they all give instructions for making an amount of liquid suitable for making one meal. For example, if you want to make basmati rice, they suggest that you make an infusion out of one third of the cooking water, using just a few stamens. The water is then absorbed into the food, and the saffron is distributed evenly throughout the food.
This spraying technique might be something that only the Persians do—I’ll see if I can come up with more on this. But from what I was told, this is how they get the saffron flavor and color on everything. If you order lamb shish kebab, for example, they spray the saffron liquid over everything—the meat, the vegetables, and the basmati rice that comes with the dish. This is why only the top layer of the rice is yellow, instead of all the rice. The simplest way to find out would be to go back to the Persian restaurant and ask for more information. I was just hesitating to do this because I feel compelled to buy dinner from him in exchange for the information, and he’s pricey.
Um… I wouldn’t take too much of that that site says about medicinal and physiological properties too seriously. A lot of people consumed a lot more than the medicinal or even “dangerous” dose daily at many times aand places around the Mediterranean. I say that because I don’t want the remarks I’m about to make to be misconstrued
I would suggest putting, say, 15 strands in a clean bottle with 8 oz of water, and leaving it in the counter for a few days. It should be deep yellow to orange in a few hours, and may range to deep orange or red overnight. You can add more threads the next day to darken the color, if desired. You won’t use more than half a gram to get a deep red in two days, so you don’t need to worry about wasting much on this experiment.
The potency of various types and qualities of saffron can vary greatly, and just estimating by eye (e.g. the depth and ratio of the red threads) can only come with experience. I’d try to use the bottle in a week or two, but it won’t go moldy for a long time. There’s very little in this infusion for bacteria or mold to use as food. They won’t be able to multiply in what (to them) is almost pure water.
When I make saffron rice, I soak several threads in a few ounces of warm water for at least 40 minutes for a deep yellow to light orange infusion, which I use in the place of an equivalent amount of water or stock in my favorite pilaf recipes for a nice color and smokey flavor. Try using a tbsp or two of your extract that way.
From there, I’d use it in more robust dishes, like paella, and then middle eastern and Indian meat or poultry dishes. Your tastes may vary
I advise starting low until you are familiar with it. Some spices can ‘stink up the house’ and make householders nauseous if they are exposed to too much of the scent too fast while cooking – even though they may have found the same recipe quite delicious when they weren’t “olfactorily gassed” during preparation. I’ve had family and housemates who became overly sensitized to asafoetida [hing] and methi that way, and I’ve even had friend who can’t stand garlic [of all things, if you can imagine it!] because of over-exposure to the cooking aroma at some point in their lives. Nauseous housemates can really crimp your cooking experiments
I’d never have guessed that saffron could bein that category until I gassed myself, “overdosing” on the scent while ruining a favorite rare [hard to replace, foreign] delicacy by over-using it where it didn’t quite fit). It’s not a physiological thing; it’s just aesthetic and psychological. Usually the cook is immune to strong cooking aromas because we “saturate” on them–but not this time. Hoo boy!
Don’t let me scare you – it’s not freaky potent. I just wish I hadn’t gone hog-wild with it, lo, those many years ago. I hadn’t realized half a gram could be so potent, and it was a long time before I again could enjoy it at the levels my saffron loving friends enjoyed. YMMV
Suggestion: Start experimenting on a small bassis with perhaps 1 cup of warm or hot water and 10 or 12 strands.
Examine how saffron is used in recipes.
Persion Saffron Recipes